Protect the good people of Pearl City

The residents of a Pearl City neighborhood have been sleeping better the last few nights, since a man believed to have caused the death of a neighbor was apprehended by the police. The deceased, 97-year-old Betty Hagihara, died in her home after it was allegedly set on fire by the suspect, who also allegedly burglarized the property.

The 35-year-old suspect — charged with arson, manslaughter and burglary — is well known to police: He has eight prior convictions, including three for burglary, one for robbery and two for drug offenses.

If that is not maddening enough, area residents indicated they have been suffering a virtual reign of terror in recent times, with some of them being burglarized multiple times. So while neighbors congratulated the police for apprehending the manslaughter suspect, the incident raises the question of why such a crime wave could be tolerated for so long — and why it took the death of a kindly neighbor to precipitate what we hope is more than a pause in this neighborhood’s victimization.

A video with Hank Terlaje and The Notorious GSA

Honolulu federal employee Hank Terlaje won first place for his humorous song at a General Services Administration convention in Las Vegas two years ago, but only now has his talent been matched by fame — or notoriety. Picking a ukulele and singing new lyrics to Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars’ "I Wanna Be a Billionaire," the 28-year-old GSA employee won the talent contest and was made honorary commissioner for a day, having sung, "I wanna be commissioner so frickin’ bad."

When Terlaje won "fame" this week through the clip’s public release, Robert Peck, the real GSA commissioner, was fired and GSA Administrator Martha Johnson resigned. Two of Johnson’s deputies who attended the conference were fired and four regional commissioners were placed on administrative leave.